Refrigerator car



Oct. 28, 1941. C, D, BONSALL 2,260,505

REFRIGERATOR CAR v Filed April'ZO, 1939 rack and lading compartment I3.

Patented Oct. 28, 1941 REFRIGERATOR CAR Charles D. Bonsall, Pittsburgh,Pa., assignor to Standard Railway Devices Company, Chicago, Ill., acorporation of Delaware Application April 20, 1939, Serial No. 269,003

3 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in construction of refrigeratorcars used to transport perishable commodities, which cars have theirwalls, oors and roofs insulated to prevent the entrance of warm air fromthe outside or the egress of cooled air from the inside or vice versa.

My improvement particularly relates to the socalled top bunkerrefrigerator car wherein refrigerant containers are positioned adjacentthe roof above the lading space.

It is common in refrigerator car construction to nail or screw a woodlining to wood stringers which in turn are secured to the car framing.With my improved construction I eliminate the necessity for woodstringers as I propose to use metallic sheet faced with plywood or somesimilar material for inside sheathing and to secure this sheathingdirectly to the metallic framework of the car body.

An object of my invention is to provide means for the movement of airwithin the car wall, from top to bottom thereof or vice versa.

Another object is to provide, within the car wall, vertical flues havingtheir upper ends in communication with the refrigerant containeradjacent the roof and their lower ends in communication with the ladingspace.

Another object is to construct an insulated wall having the strengthrequired in railway service at the same time providing the flueshereinbefore mentioned.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdescription and the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section through the car.

Fig. 2 is a section taken on the plane of line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section as indicated by the line 3-3 of Fig. 1, the wallinsulation having been omitted to more clearly show the details ofconstruction.

The parts of the refrigerator car shown in Fig. 1 are indicatedgenerally as follows: roof 2, side wall 3, floor 4, refrigerantcontainer 5, hatch 6, side wall flue 1, drip pan 8, passage 9, centerduct I0, foraminous oor rack II, space I2 below the Air in the ladingcompartment I3, upon being warmed by the lading, rises through the ductI to the passage 9 where it is cooled by contact with the cold bottomwall of the refrigerant container 5. The air then flows, by reason ofits greater density, downwardly through the flue 1 to the space I2 andthence upwardly through the rack to the lading compartment I3, therebycooling the lading placed therein.

The floor 4 includes a center sill 20, side sills 2l spaced from thecenter sill 20 on opposite sides thereof, a lower retaining sheet 22 andspaced apart transversely extending beams 24 above and in contact withthe sheet 22. The beams 24 and sheet 22 are riveted or otherwise securedto the center sill 20 and side sills 2I, the sheet 22 preferably beingformed with an upwardly projecting panel 26 to stiffen the sheet 22 andto retain the insulation in position. Insulation 23 is laid on top ofthe beams 24 and sheet 22, and wooden stringers 29 are disposed on topof the insulation 28. The stringers 29 are supported by the beams 24through the insulation 28 which is compressed in order to form asupport. An upper metallic sheet 30 is provided to form a waterproofsurface; the sheet 30 resting upon the stringers 29.

The side Wall 3 includes outer posts 35 and outer sheathing 36 securedtogether, each being rigidly secured to the outer side plate 31. Each ofthe side posts is secured to one of the floor beams 24 by some means,such as the brackets 39 which are welded to the posts 35 and to thebeams 24 and also riveted to the outer side sill 2|.

The inner side sill 45 is secured to and insuiated from the beams 24 bythe cups 4s secured to the beams 24, the insulating piece 48 and therivets 49. The inner posts 52 are rigidly secured to the inner side sill45 and are braced by a gusset 53 having a vertical portion welded at 55to the posts 52 and a horizontal portion secured by the rivets 49 to thesill 45. The inner posts 52 are riveted at their upper ends to thedepending leg of a Z-bar inner side plate 51. A sheet member extendsbetween and is secured to the inner side plate 51 and the inner sidesill 45. The sheet member 60 is for-medwith one or more offset portions6I between each inner post 52, the offset portions 6I projecting awayfrom the interior of the car and extending substantially between theinner side plate 51 and inner side sill 45. An inner sheathing 64 issecured to the inner posts 52 and disposed flatwise to the sheet member60 to form a plurality of flues 65 between the sheathing 64 and theoffset portions 6I. The sheathing 64 does not extend completely betweenthe inner side plate 51 and inner side sill 45, being spaced therefromto form the upper (B1) and lower (B8) openings which providecommunication between the iiues 65 and the interior of the car. Theinner sheathing 64 is preferably made of wood and may be protected by ametallic sheet 69 secured thereto. 'I'he wood functions as insulationbetween the ues 65 and the interior of the car.

The roof 2 comprises an outer sheet 15 extending between the outer sideplates 31, an inner sheet 16 extending between the inner side plates 51and insulation between the sheets 15, 16. A hatch frame 18 ispreferablyv welded to the outer sheet 15 at 19' and secured to the innersheet 16 by the rivets 80. Insulation 82 is provided between the innersheet 16 and the hatch frame 18. The refrigerant container may besuspended by any convenient means.

A gutter 81 is provided substantially below the lues 65 and may beformed integral with the sheet member 60 or may be welded thereto. Thegutter 81 is preferably welded at 88 to the upper floor sheet 30. n

Fig. 2 shows the post arrangement intended to assist in holding the sidewall insulation 92 in place. The insulation 92 is arranged around theouter posts 35 and projects into the inner posts52, thereby forming aclampY on the insulation. Cleats 93, 94Y are also provided to hold theinsulation in place.

The Aaccompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of theinvention, though it is to be understood. that the invention is notlimited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as itis obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of theclaims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim: Y

1. Inv a refrigerator car an insulated floor, an outer side sill, atransversely extending floor beam embedded in the floor insulation andsupported at one end by said sill, an inner side sill supported by andinsulated from said beam, sub'- stantially vertical posts secured attheir lower parts to said inner sill, lining secured to said posts,sheathing spaced outwardly from said lining, and insulation between saidlining and said sheathing.

2. In a refrigerator car an insulated floor, an outer side sill, atransversely extending oor beam embedded in the oor insulation andsupported at one end by said sill, an inner side sill supported by andinsulated from said beam, substantially vertical posts secured at theirlower parts to said inner sill, means secured to said posts and arrangedto form a vertically extending flue, sheathing spaced outwardly fromsaid means, insulation between said sheathing and said means and meansto direct a flow of refrigerated air downwardly through said flue.

3. In a refrigerator car an insulated floor, an outer side sill, atransversely extending floor beam embedded in the floor insulation andsupported at one end by said sill, a lower floor member forming theboundary of said floor, an inner side sill supported by and' insulatedfrom said beam, an upper floor member secured to said inner sill inspaced relation to said beam, substantially vertical posts: secured attheir lower partsto said inner sill, means secured to said postsandarranged to form a vertically extending flue, sheathing spacedoutwardly from said means, insulation between said floor members andbetween said sheathing and said means, 'a floor rack supported by saidupper floor member and arranged to form a space therebetweenr whichcommunicates with the lower part of said flue, and means to direct. a owof refrigerated air downwardly through said. flue.

CHARLES D. BQNSALL.

